An Overview of Geodetic Volcano Research in the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are mostly characterized by diffuse and scattered volcanism affecting a large area, with only one active stratovolcano, the Teide–Pico Viejo complex (Tenerife). More than 2 million people live and work in the 7,447 km2 of the archipelago, resulting in an average population density...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fernández Torres, José, González, Pablo J., Camacho, Antonio G., Prieto, Juan Francisco, Bru, Guadalupe
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/124325
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/124325
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Canary Islands
Volcanic activity
Volcano geodesy
Deformation and gravity change
Space and terrestrial techniques
Deformation modeling and inversion techniques
Descripción
Sumario:The Canary Islands are mostly characterized by diffuse and scattered volcanism affecting a large area, with only one active stratovolcano, the Teide–Pico Viejo complex (Tenerife). More than 2 million people live and work in the 7,447 km2 of the archipelago, resulting in an average population density three times greater than the rest of Spain. This fact, together with the growth of exposure during the past 40 years, increases volcanic risk with respect previous eruptions, as witnessed during the recent 2011–2012 El Hierro submarine eruption. Therefore, in addition to purely scientific reasons there are economic and population-security reasons for developing and maintaining an efficient volcano monitoring system. In this scenario geodetic monitoring represents an important part of the monitoring system. We describe volcano geodetic monitoring research carried out in the Canary Islands and the results obtained. We consider for each epoch the two main existing constraints: the level of volcanic activity in the archipelago, and the limitations of the techniques available at the time. Theoretical and observational aspects are considered, as well as the implications for operational volcano surveillance. Current challenges of and future perspectives in geodetic volcano monitoring in the Canaries are also presented.